Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is a video game produced by EA Games that features the fictional sport of Quidditch. The user plays for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup (competing between Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw) and then takes on the Quidditch World Cup (competing between the United States, England, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Japan, Spain, Australia and Bulgaria.) Setting The game does not state it explicitly, but the rosters and the fact that the World Cup follows the Hogwarts school year in this game indicates that the game is set during Harry Potter's third year, the 1993–1994 school year. Furthermore, because the books have not named all of the members of the Hogwarts House teams, the video game has filled in the gaps as follows, circa Harry's third year. It is possible that J. K. Rowling provided the names, as she has been known to participate in multimedia projects, such as the . Gameplay Systems Among the unique features of Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is the ability to control Chasers. In fact, most of the gameplay in terms of time centres around the Chasers and Keepers. Aside from basic flying, Chasers can direct passes and shots using the Control Stick and also charge shots, passes and tackles. After each goal, play restarts by having the Keeper of the team who just conceded passing the Quaffle back into play as the 10 points (more in case of multi-goal Team Special Moves) are tallied. At the top of the screen and attached to both teams' scores is a Golden Snitch gauge, signalling both the teams' relative momentum and how close the climactic Snitch chase is. Teams can build this bar by completing basic passes, with charged passes generating more. The fastest way of doing this is by completing Combos – a special series of passes where the player can pass or shoot the Quaffle with a volley. Combos cap at 8 (with the counter listed onscreen) and the momentum generated is banked either after the player is not dispossessed after a period of time following the last pass or after the player scores. When the two halves of the Snitch meet on the gauge, the Snitch is spotted and the control switches to the Seekers as they race after it. Each Seeker also has a boost metre based on how much momentum the team has accumulated during the match – if the team has accumulated more momentum, the boost metre will be larger. Successfully following the Snitch's path regenerates the boost metre faster, and successfully catching the Snitch, as always, awards 150 points and ends the game. Furthermore, the scores are locked in during the Snitch chase, meaning that no goals are scored during the chase As the player progresses in the House Quidditch Cup and completes more drills, he or she also unlocks more features that also charge with momentum banked in the Snitch gauge: *'Dodge': The controlled Chaser puts on a burst of speed that can be used to evade tackles, including Special Move tackles. This requires the least amount of momentum to charge. *'Bludger': Usable only on defence; one of the team's Beaters hits a Bludger towards the opposing Chaser with the Quaffle. The player must then control the Bludger to get around the opposing Beaters so that it hits the opposing Chaser. Success not only wins back possession but slightly depletes the opposing team's Snitch bar. This is the second quickest feature to charge. *'Special Move': On defence, this launches a targeting icon. If the player guides it to the opposing Chaser with the Quaffle, the player's Chaser takes back possession with a cinematic tackle that also depletes the opposing team's Snitch bar more than a Bludger does. On offence, when within shooting range (marked by an opposing goal lighting up), this launches a cinematic shot that cannot be saved, which has the effect of not only a guaranteed goal but also banking a Combo if the player has one. This is the second slowest feature to charge. *'Team Special Move': Usable only on offence; this must be unlocked by fulfilling a set of conditions to unlock the Team Special Move Quidditch Card for that team, and the conditions vary from team to team, though the Hogwarts House teams' conditions are mostly from drills. This is the slowest feature to charge, but once it becomes available, it can be used anywhere on the field, even if the player is not within shooting range. When activated, the team performs its unique Team Special Move, which is shown in a cinematic, depletes the opposing Snitch gauge even more than a Special Move tackle and includes at least one unblockable shot, with many Team Special Moves resulting in multiple goals. Also, since it is a guaranteed scoring move, it banks the Combo if the player has one. Plot The introduction features Harry and Oliver Wood dressed in their Gryffindor Quidditch team uniforms instructing the player on the basic rules and objectives of Quidditch. The player then chooses a House to play for in the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup by picking that team's Seeker. This Seeker (Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, or Draco Malfoy) then also offers tips, reminders, and status updates on the team's performance during the course of the game. Afterwards, the player competes in the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, and when winning, the Quidditch World Cup. Hogwarts Quidditch Cup as Gryffindor Seeker at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch]] Once the player chooses a House, the Seeker leads the player to the rest of the team. As in the books, the House Quidditch Cup is round-robin, but instead of dropping the player into a game with all features enabled, the features are introduced one by one through drills with the House team members, and drills must be completed before matches unlock. Firstly, two of the Chasers lead the player in passing and tackling/shooting drills before the Seeker leads the player (with the help of Madam Rolanda Hooch) in catching a Golden Snidget as Snitch-catching practise. At this point, the first House Quidditch Cup match is unlocked. After the first match, one of the Beaters leads the player in a Beater drill, which unlocks the Bludger feature when completed. Following that, the remaining Chaser leads the player in a Dodging/Special Move drill, which unlocks Dodges and Special Moves once completed. At this point, the second match is unlocked. Following the second match, the team's Keeper leads the player in a Combo drill, after which the final match is unlocked with all features enabled. After the final match, Albus Dumbledore, flanked by the Heads of Houses, awards the Quidditch Cup to the winning House, along with tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, as the victors celebrate and commemorate the moment with a wizard photograph that is framed in their House's common room. The standings (and subsequently the winners as well) are determined not by wins and losses but by total points, which is also in effect during the World Cup. Home Quidditch Stadium The Hogwarts Quidditch pitch appears exactly as it does in the Harry Potter films. Multicoloured spectator stands surround a neatly manicured lawn outlined in white. Golden goal hoops stand at either end of the ovular pitch. Hogwarts Teams Gryffindor ;Roster ;Team Special Move : Gryffindor's Team Special Move is called the Weasley Wangler. Alicia starts with the Quaffle with Fred and George flying in front of Alicia in an inverted V shape, and the Weasley Twins corral an oncoming Bludger and hit it back and forth between them to cover for Alicia. This scares off the opposing passing and special move Chasers, and the opposing Keeper is helpless to stop the Bludger hitting him as Alicia then scores into an open hoop and catches it on the other side. Ravenclaw ;Roster ;Team Special Move : Ravenclaw's Team Special Move, The Burdish of Raven, is the most offensively powerful of all the teams – even the national ones – as it is the only one that scores three times. First, the 3 chasers go up in the air, the passing and special move chasers gaze in awe as they loop and go down, as they pass, Davies punches the special move chaser, Burrow kicks the passing chaser, leaving the way clear for Stretton to shoot, then Burrow scores, and finally, Davies scores. Hufflepuff ;Roster ;Team Special Move : The Cedric Swoop'n'Swagger is quite a long move. First, they are in possession of the quaffle, when the passing and special move chasers from the other team are in hot pursuit of it. Preece fires the quaffle to Macavoy, avoiding the passing chaser, then Macavoy passes it to Applebee, who passes it to Macavoy who avoids the special move chaser, then she passes it to Preece who does a ground shot which the force lifts it up into the air so it goes in a hoop, then Macavoy passes it to Applebee, then she scores. Slytherin ;Roster Note: Kevin Bletchley is the name given in software, but it may be meant to be Miles Bletchley. ;Team Special Move : The Zeeburger Slither is very brutal. All the players, except Malfoy and Bletchley knock the opponent passing and special move chasers out of the way with the tackle and shoot chaser screaming, then they use cobbing on the keeper (no penalty), Then Montague scores, Pucey kicks it to Flint, who scores it again. Other characters ;Spectators Additionally, Edgar Cloggs, a ghost who haunts the Quidditch pitch, would be a training partner in Tackle & Shoot / Special Move drills. Quidditch World Cup The Hogwarts Quidditch Cup champions not only get to attend the Quidditch World Cup, but they also choose a team to support during a 16-game home-and-away round robin league campaign, with the team playing every other opponent twice – once at home and once at the other team's stadium. At this point, the player can also change the difficulty level, something that is not available during the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. Each difficulty level corresponds to a broom. In ascending order of speed and difficulty: Comet 260, Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001 and Firebolt. Home Quidditch Stadium National Teams England U.S.A. Japan Germany France Australia Nordic (Scandinavia) Spain Bulgaria Other characters Bonus Quidditch pitch: Queerditch Marsh One of the unlockables in the game is the first appearance of the site of Quidditch's invention, Queerditch Marsh. This pitch is sloppily defined by a faded white oval on a relatively flat area of English marshland. Rickety stands rise from the oval's edges. Instead of constructed goal hoops, Chasers throw the Quaffle through large birds' nests in the two trees on either end of the pitch. A thin brook runs across the length of the oval. Only Hogwarts teams may play on Queerditch Marsh. Media File:Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup (2003) - Video Game Trailer (e19065)|Trailer File:Quidditch_World_Cup_Special_Team_Moves|Team Special Moves External links *http://rapidshare.com/files/139503506/HaPoQuWoCuViGaSo.rar - Listen to the Game Soundtrack Behind the scenes *In Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, all the names of the newly introduced national Quidditch team players, or characters with previously unknown full names, are only heard spoken by the Quidditch commentators. **The spelling of the names on this page uses the ones spelled out on Chocolate Frog Cards that can be won in the Nintendo DS version of . *The following national teams have canonically competed in the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, but was not included in Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup as playable teams: **Ireland, the canonical team to win the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. **Peru, one of the canonical teams, alongside Ireland and Bulgaria, to reach the semi-finals of the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. **Luxembourg, Scotland, Transylvania, Uganda, and Wales all participated. ***Transylvania did get a concept sketch by artist Ross Dearsley, but the team ultimately was not featured in the game. *It is the only audiovisual production in all of the Harry Potter franchise in which characters talk directly to the camera due to the introduction. *A simplified version of the Game Boy Advance version of Quidditch World Cup is included as a minigame in the Nintendo DS version of , using the same control scheme. Only Hogwarts teams are present, however. It is also possible to play a 2-player co-op version by connecting the GBA to the GameCube using a connector cable, with the GBA player playing a Beater minigame. If the GBA player wins the minigame, the GameCube player gets the chance to launch a Bludger attack against an opposing Chaser. *In the Game Boy Advance version, the Hogwarts Inter-House Cup schedule is not the same as what is known of the school schedule. For example, Gryffindor plays the other three Houses in the order of Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff in the Game Boy Advance version, whereas the Gryffindor team played in the order of Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw from at least 1991-1997, and likely more years before and after. Notes and references es:Harry Potter: Quidditch Copa del Mundo pl:Harry Potter: Mistrzostwa świata w quidditchu ru:Гарри Поттер: Чемпионат мира по квиддичу pt-br:Harry Potter: Copa Mundial de Quadribol Category:Game Boy Advance video games (real-world) Category:GameCube video games (real-world) Category:PC games (real-world) Category:PlayStation 2 video games (real-world) Category:Quidditch Category:Xbox video games (real-world)